Foldable traverse rod

ABSTRACT

A foldable traverse rod includes a rod assembly and a slide assembly. The rod assembly has a first and a second rod portion connected end to end via a hinge, such that the second rod portion may be turned about the hinge to a folded position to locate on a top of the first rod portion, or to an extended position to locate in line with the first rod portion. Both of the first and the second rod portion are internally correspondingly divided into a plurality of slide channels. The slide assembly includes a plurality of link bars separately mounted in the slide channels of the rod assembly. The link bars may be sequentially pulled outward or pushed inward via a linkage system.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a traverse rod, and more particularly to a foldable traverse rod.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most of the currently commercially available curtain structures for mounting on or in front of windows or window frames are supplied in several fixed sizes. The conventional curtain structure generally includes a traverse rod defining a slide channel, a plurality of carrier slides slidably moving in and along the slide channel, and at least one piece of curtain connected to and hung from the carrier slides. When the curtain is withdrawn, the carrier slides are moved toward an end of the traverse rod.

When a consumer purchases a curtain structure having an overall width of 180 cm, the traverse rod thereof is too long to be positioned in a general passenger car, and accordingly causes confusions in transport. In addition, the large-sized curtain structure also causes inconveniences in packaging and storage thereof. It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a foldable traverse rod to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional curtain structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a foldable traverse rod.

To achieve the above and other objects, the foldable traverse rod according to the present invention includes a rod assembly and a slide assembly. The rod assembly has a first and a second rod portion pivotally connected end to end via a hinge, such that the second rod portion may be turned about the hinge to a folded position to locate on a top of the first rod portion, or to an extended position to locate in line with the first rod portion. Both of the first and the second rod portion are internally correspondingly divided into a plurality of slide channels. The slide assembly includes a plurality of link bars separately mounted in the slide channels of the rod assembly. The link bars may be sequentially pulled outward or pushed inward via a linkage system. When the foldable traverse rod is in a folded state, it may be conveniently packaged for transport or storage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIGS. 1 and 2 are assembled and exploded perspective views, respectively, of a foldable traverse rod according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the foldable traverse rod of the present invention is in a folded state;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing link bars of the foldable traverse rod of the present invention are fully drawn across the traverse rod; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the manner in which curtains are connected to and fully drawn across the traverse rod.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 that are assembled and exploded perspective views, respectively, of a foldable traverse rod 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the foldable traverse rod 10 includes a rod assembly 11 and a slide assembly 20. The rod assembly 11 includes a first rod portion 12 having a first end 12 a and a second end 12 b, and a second rod portion 13 having a first end 13 a and a second end 13 b. The first end 12 a of the first rod portion 12 and the second end 13 b of the second rod portion 13 are closed with an end cover 14 each. The second end 12 b of the first rod portion 12 and the first end 13 a of the second rod portion 13 are connected to each other via a hinge 15, such that the second rod portion 13 may be turned about the hinge 15 relative to the first rod portion 12 between a folded and an extended position to thereby respectively reduce and increase an overall length of the rod assembly 11, respectively. The hinge 15 includes two leaves 15 a, 15 b, which are connected to and turnable about a pivot pin. The first rod portion 12 and the second rod portion 13 respectively have a fixing channel 19 a, 19 b formed on a top thereof. The leaves 15 a, 15 b of the hinge 15 are fixed to the fixing channels 19 a, 19 b, respectively, using screws. When the second rod portion 13 is turned about the hinge 15 from the extended position to the folded position to thereby locate above the first rod portion 12, as shown in FIG. 3, the rod assembly 11 becomes half-length to enable convenient packaging thereof. When it is desired to mount the rod assembly 11 on or in front of a window or a window frame, first turn the second rod portion 13 from the folded position as shown in FIG. 3 to the extended position as shown in FIG. 1, so that the first rod portion 12 is in line with the second rod portion 13, and the rod assembly 11 is returned to its full length for mounting to the window or the window frame.

As can be clearly seen from FIG. 4, the first rod portion 12 is internally divided into a plurality of axially parallelly extended slide channels 16 a, 16 b, 16 c; and the second rod portion 13 is also internally divided into a plurality of axially parallelly extended slide channels 17 a, 17 b, 17 c corresponding to the slide channels 16 a, 16 b, 16 c. A stopper 18 is fixedly mounted in the slide channel 16 c near the second end 12 b of the first rod portion 12.

The slide assembly 20 is mounted to the rod assembly 11, and includes a first link bar 21 a, a second link bar 21 b, and a third link bar 21 c. The first and the second link bar 21 a, 21 b are provided along respective top with a plurality of rollers 23, which are rotatably located in the slide channels 16 a, 16 b, 17 a, 17 b, so as to bring the first and the second link bar 21 a, 21 b to smoothly slide in the slide channels 16 a, 17 a and 16 b, 17 b, respectively. The third link bar 21 c is immovably located in the slide channel 16 c with two ends separately pressed against the end cover 14 and the stopper 18.

The slide assembly 20 further includes a linkage system, so that the second link bar 21 b may be brought to move by the first link bar 21 a. Please refer to FIG. 5. The linkage system includes a primary wing 24 located near a front end of the first link bar 21 a to face toward the second link bar 21 b, and two secondary wings 25 a, 25 b respectively located near a front and a rear end of the second link bar 21 b, such that the primary wing 24 is located between the two secondary wings 25 a, 25 b. The first and the second link bar 21 a, 21 b shown in FIG. 5 are in a fully retracted position to locate in the slide channels 16 a, 16 b of the first rod portion 12. When the first link bar 21 a is drawn outward from the slide channel 16 a toward the corresponding slide channel 17 a by a predetermined distance, the primary wing 24 on the first link bar 21 a is brought to abut against the secondary wing 25 b at the rear end of the second link bar 21 b. At this point, further outward moving of the primary wing 24 would cause the secondary wing 25 b, and accordingly, the whole second link bar 21 b to move outward until a rear end of the first link bar 21 a reaches at the second end 13 b of the second rod portion 13. At this point, the first and the second link bar 21 a, 21 b have been drawn to a fully extended position as shown in FIG. 6. Similarly, when the first link bar 21 a is pushed inward from the slide channel 17 a toward the corresponding slide channel 16 a, the primary wing 24 on the first link bar 21 a would finally abut against the secondary wing 25 a located at the front end of the second link bar 21 b. At this point, further inward moving of the primary wing 24 would cause the secondary wing 25 a, and accordingly, the whole second link bar 21 b to move inward until the front end of the first link bar 21 a reaches at the first end 12 a of the first rod portion 12. At this point, the first and the second link bar 21 a, 21 b have been pushed to the fully retracted position as shown in FIG. 5.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the rod assembly 11 includes a plurality of brackets 30 mounted to the fixing channels 19 a, 19 b. Each of the brackets 30 includes an L-shaped main body 31, of which a vertical leg is mounted to a front side of the window frame; and a locating member 32 mounted to a lower side of a horizontal arm of the L-shaped main body 31 via a support shaft, so that the locating member 32 is rotatable about the support shaft. The locating member 32 may be pushed at a lever 34 thereof for a latching plate 35 thereof to turn from a transverse position to a longitudinal position relative to the fixing channel 19 a, 19 b, allowing the latching plate 35 to enter into the fixing channel 19 a, 19 b. When the lever 34 is further pushed until a stopper 36 formed at an outer end of the lever 34 is in contact with a front side of the first or the second rod portion 12, 13, the latching plate 35 is turned to the transverse position again to be retained to the fixing channel 19 a, 19 b. Thus, the stopper 36 on the lever 34 serves as a force applying surface and a stop surface.

Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 7 at the same time. The first link bar 21 a further includes a hanger 26, to which a wand 27 is hooked. By manipulating the wand 27, the slide assembly 20 may be stopped at any intermediate position between the fully retracted position as shown in FIG. 5 and the fully extended position as shown in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 7, a curtain 40 is connected to and hung from an upper edge of each of the first, the second, and the third link bar 21 a, 21 b, and 21 c. A self-bonding type element 41 is used to achieve easy connection and separation of the curtains 40 to and from the first, second, and third link bars 21 a, 21 b, and 21 c.

The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims. 

1. A foldable traverse rod, comprising: a rod assembly including a first rod portion and a second rod portion connected end to end via a hinge, such that said second rod portion may be turned about said hinge relative to the first rod portion from an extended position to a folded position; and said first and said second rod portion being internally correspondingly divided into a plurality of axially parallelly extended slide channels; and a slide assembly being slidably mounted to said a plurality of slide channels of said rod assembly, so as to be drawn between a fully retracted position and a fully extended position.
 2. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slide assembly includes a first, a second, and a third link bar being separately mounted to one of said slide channels of said rod assembly.
 3. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first and said second link bar are provided along respective top with a plurality of rollers, so as to slide in corresponding slide channels; and said third link bar is immovably located in a separate one of said slide channels.
 4. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 3, wherein said slide assembly further includes a linkage system for said first and said second link bar to be sequentially pulled outward and pushed inward relative to said third link bar.
 5. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second rod portion of said rod assembly are correspondingly provided on a top with a fixing channel each.
 6. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 5, wherein said rod assembly further includes a plurality of brackets mounted to said fixing channels; each of said brackets including an L-shaped main body and a locating member rotatably mounted below said L-shaped main body via a support shaft, such that said locating member may be turned about said support shaft to enter into and mount in said fixing channel.
 7. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 6, wherein said locating member includes a lever and a latching plate; said lever being operable to turn and orient said latching plate to a different direction for entering into and mounting in said fixing channel; and said lever being provided at an outer end with a stopper, at where a force is conveniently applied to operate said lever and turn said latching plate; and said stopper being contacted with a front side of said rod portion when said latching plate is mounted in said fixing channel.
 8. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slide assembly further includes a hanger provided on said first link bar, and a wand hooked to and hung from said hanger for controlling said first and said second link bar to stop at any intermediate point between the fully retracted position and the fully extended position.
 9. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 4, wherein said linkage system includes a primary wing provided on said first link bar to face toward said second link bar, and two spaced secondary wings provided on said second link bar at predetermined positions, such that said primary wing is located between said two secondary wings. 